


The Horse-Princess

by The_Shadow



Category: Dragon Quest VIII
Genre: 3DS version, F/M, Minor Spoilers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 18:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11041764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shadow/pseuds/The_Shadow
Summary: Jessica really hopes Medea is ugly. She isn't.





	The Horse-Princess

In her mind, Jessica always just assumed Medea really was an “'orse-princess”. Obviously, King Trode always called her beautiful, but he was her father. And anyway, she'd seen a portrait of the cursed king that they night searched the Trodain library and despite his constant prattle about his, “noble visage,” he didn't look much worse as a monster than he did as a man.

Of course, King Clavius had told Prince Charmles that he'd heard the Princess was a beauty (“va-va-voom” had been his exact words, she still bristled at the memory), but he was trying to convince a teenage boy to face his ridiculous phobia and get married, he would have told him anything. Jessica wondered idly what else he might have promised the boy if they hadn't been present and the rules of propriety hadn't forced him to be discreet.

Though, she'd casually asked Gawain whether the princess was as magnificent as everyone said and he'd assured her that she was, but...well...he _would_.

The fact was, it was convenient for her to believe that Medea was as much a farm animal in human form as she was then, so until she had reason to believe otherwise she was going to do just that.

But then they took her to the magic spring and gave the princess water to drink. Even as she leaned into the spring, Jessica found herself silently pleading to the Goddess to not let it work, to let her have just a bit more time.

The Goddess answered all prayers, her mother always said, and this time the answer was “no”.  
Her heart shattered as the horse transformed back into her true form.

They'd lied. They'd all lied to her. Medea wasn't a bit beautiful; she was positviely angelic. Long chocolate hair flowed down her face-Goddess her face. The princess had soft features, compared to Jessica's own harsh ones, and large sea green eyes that were so expressive, you'd think you were seeing into the princess' very soul. Tall and slender, with porcelain skin, Jessica didn't want to believe Medea was real. She _couldn't_ be real. It wasn't fair. The finest artist in the land couldn't have dreamed up someone so lovely.

But that wasn't the worst of it. She begged with herself not to look, tried with her all her might to keep her face fixed forward, but she had to see, even though she knew what it would be. Gawain was looking at the princess as if she was gazing upon the Goddess herself.

She excused herself that night to cry in private. She'd lost Alistair and now she'd lost Gawain too.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been replaying Dragon Quest 8 (and finishing it for the first time, I think) and this popped into my head. To be honest, the main reason I bought the 3DS was to see the alternate endings. I tend to extrapolate and role play scenes between cut scenes in my mind, so I've always been a bit of a Hero/Jessica shipper. However, making that choice in this game is going to be difficult now that I've made the effort to visit the Mystical Spring after every quest.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading!


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